In China, where religious liberty has been under attack since the communist takeover in 1949, persecution of Christians has escalated over recent months. Communist Chinese authorities have destroyed churches and religious symbols and arrested Christian leaders and laity in recent crackdowns against those groups regarded by Beijing as “cults.”

The Islamic terrorist group ISIS, which has been indiscriminately murdering individuals in Syria and Iraq, publicly executed a seventeen-year-old boy by crucifixion after the group accused the teen of photographing ISIS military training sites.

Chinese officials have used the editorial pages of the People’s Daily, the flagship paper of China’s Communist Party, to warn protesters engaged in anti-Mainland China demonstrations to back off. The ranks of demonstrators have been swelled by thousands of University of Hong Kong students who have been boycotting classes to take part in the protests seeking expanded voting rights, less interference from Beijing, and the preservation of freedom of the press, which exists to a greater degree in Hong Kong than on the mainland.

Protests in semi-autonomous Hong Kong demanding more liberty and autonomy from the Communist Chinese dictatorship ruling mainland China have been boiling over in recent days, with the regime in Beijing and its minions in Hong Kong’s government using tear gas and heavy-handed police tactics to disperse fast-growing demonstrations. Instead of breaking up, though, the crowds grew larger.

ISIS (the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and currently operating under its new brand, “The Islamic State,” is the new al-Qaeda. But one Canadian journalist believes that ISIS is not nearly so powerful as most Westerners think, and that because the groups has far more enemies than allies, it is unlikely to accomplish it objectives to gain control of a wide swath of the Middle East.

Following an explosive report in The Times of London citing forensic experts, the establishment press around the world is now reporting that the video purporting to show the beheading of American journalist James Foley by an Islamic State (ISIS) jihadist was probably “staged.” Other respected analysts had suggested that the execution footage could be bogus even before that. While it seems to be generally accepted that Foley was indeed killed, questions surrounding the barbaric alleged death and its implications continue to grow around the world. Countless theories and claims have surfaced purporting to explain it.

Israeli authorities last week unveiled a nationwide ban on the controversial practice of adding the chemical fluoride, labeled a “neurotoxin” by a top medical journal this year, to public water supplies as a medical treatment. The decision by the Health Ministry to ban what critics call a dangerous, involuntary mass-medication scheme drew applause from many medical and some dental experts around the world. However, it also prompted outrage and vicious attacks by proponents of fluoridation, who say the chemical provides alleged benefits to children’s teeth. The ban is a major blow to supporters of using the water supply to medicate the public.